Your rental agreement must include the amount of rent, when it is to be paid and the preferred way it is to be paid.
Rent in advance
If your rent is payable weekly, the most you can be asked to pay in advance is two weeks rent [section 41].
If the weekly rent is $900 or less, and the rent is payable monthly, the most you can be asked to pay in advance is one month’s rent [section 40, regulation 17].
Ways to pay
There are many ways rent can be paid. The rental provider must provide an option that does not result in you being charged any extra fees, apart from your usual bank fees.
They can include their preferred payment method in the rental agreement, but if this would result in you having to pay extra fees you do not need to agree to paying your rent this way.
You can insist on a method where you will not be charged extra fees, for example by electronic funds transfer or direct debit [section 42, regulation 19].
It is also against the law for agents, or anyone else including a third party, to charge for the first issue of a rent payment card or for establishing or using direct debit facilities for rent payments [section 51].
Centrepay
If you receive Centrelink payments and want to pay your rent by Centrepay, the rental provider must allow you to pay your rent this way [section 42].
Rent receipts
It is against the law to refuse to issue rent receipts [section 43].
You are entitled to a receipt each time you pay rent. If you pay your rent in person, you must be given a receipt immediately. If you pay in another way, such as direct debit, and you ask for a receipt, it must be given to you within 5 business days.
Even if you do not ask for a receipt at the time you pay, you can still ask for a record of your rent payments within 12 months of the date you paid. You must be given a copy of the record within 5 business days of your request.